Milo Yiannopoulos, with Senator David Leyonhjelm in Canberra. ‘There has been no basic scrutiny of his noxious views,’ says Tim Soutphommasane.
Photograph: McDonnell/SIPA/REX/Shutterstock

The race discrimination commissioner Tim Soutphommasane has lashed out at the media for what he says is dangerous and fawning coverage of the speaking tour of Milo Yiannopoulos which has lent credibility to his extreme views.

“I’ve been astounded how sympathetic and fawning some of the coverage has been and surprised at how there hasn’t been more scrutiny given to his views and to his history of political activity,” Soutphommasane told Weekly Beast. “He has a well documented association with neo-Nazis and white supremacist leaders in the US. He has been widely discredited in the US and the UK and yet he comes here and receives the media red-carpet treatment and it’s just bizarre.”

Soutphommasane said not all media outlets indulged – he admired Jeff Sparrow’s piece for Guardian Australia for instance. But he pointed to a livestream of a Yiannopoulos speech on one news website, and extensive reporting of his movements in newspapers, online and radio.

“There has been no basic scrutiny of his noxious views,” he said. “There are sections of the Australian media which have become addicted to sugar hits of outrage and confected controversy. We shouldn’t be indulging in extremist forms of politics and excusing it as ironic hipster racism. There have been many people who have been denied visas for doing similar things.”

The Australian’s engagement editor, Jason Gagliardi, wrote that the former Breitbart editor won fans during his visit. “Milo Yiannopoulos … came, saw and conquered this week, dispatching speeches, op-ed pieces and bitchy bon mots while sending media personalities like Waleed Aly and Karl Stefanovic running for their mummies.

“He also won a lot of new fans from the ranks of informed Australians, so for this week’s Readers’ Comments column, add a heaped spoon of Milo and stir well. Let’s engage.” Gagliardi went on to quote readers who found Milo’s guest opinion column in the Australian “refreshing” and witty.

Cross currents

Myf Warhurst has a new afternoon music show on ABC local radio. Photograph: ABC

Radio current affairs doesn’t have many friends in ABC management, and this week flagship shows PM and The World Today were delivered the blow which had been a long time coming. ABC’s director of radio, Michael Mason, has long wanted to shorten PM, believing people want traffic news at that time of the day rather than national news and analysis. Gaven Morris, the director of news, is a digital enthusiast. Former newspaper editor Judith Whelan, also not a radio practitioner, or evangelist, was one of the executives to deliver the bad news to radio current affairs staff.

Weekly Beast understands that Whelan said research showed that people turn off the radio at 12.30pm and that’s why they should cut off The World Today at 12.30pm. People are “tired of all the talk” and they want to listen to a playlist on Spotify, or a podcast, she said. Enter a new light afternoon program hosted by Spicks and Specks personality Myf Warhust because the key market of 35 to 50-year-olds want to be engaged by issues such as food, travel, relationships, books and “all the things people are talking about when they pick their kids up from school”.

While the late Mark Colvin wasn’t there to give them hell, newly minted PM host Linda Mottram and veteran The World Today presenter Eleanor Hall didn’t hold back. Mottram argued against cutting the show and wanted it to stay at 6pm, rather than move to the later time of 6.30pm: “I won’t waste energy on those who don’t want news [current affairs] on the radio airwaves.” Hall thanked listeners for their messages on Twitter, saying it’s “great to hear our audience values our product even if ABC management doesn’t”.

Eleanor Hall (@eleanorhall1)

Thank you for your support! Great to hear our audience values our product even if ABC management doesn't. https://t.co/zn5w1rqrxU

Off Pat

For several years the ABC has been continuously cutting programs and jobs to fund its digital projects. It started with Mark Scott and it continues with Michelle Guthrie. This week Aunty advertised for 18 new jobs in the ABC Life division which grew out of Guthrie’s pet project “GIG” or great ideas grant.

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The ABC Life project is described as a project “covering: health, wellbeing and fitness; work and career; personal finance and consumer rights; pets; home and family; sex and relationships; food and cooking; gardening; travel and adventure; fashion and personal grooming; and creativity and meaning”. Audiences have got to hope that these new offerings – regardless of the platform they are delivered on – are worth sacrificing traditional news and current affairs content such as Lateline, PM and The World Today and specialist content which has been watered down across Radio National.

Meanwhile the ABC is breathing a sigh of relief that RN Drive presenter Patricia Karvelas has finally dropped her other job at Sky News Australia. Karvelas had a Sunday night talk program on Sky, a Rupert Murdoch outlet which delights in attacking the ABC. But when Karvelas was offered a program on the ABC News channel on Sunday nights next year, the awkward arrangement was over. Sky told Weekly Beast it wishes Karvelas well.

Not so pushy

Miranda Devine loves nothing more than getting stuck into Kristina Keneally, the Labor candidate in the Bennelong byelection, regularly attacking her on Twitter. But one tweet this week left her with egg on her face.

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The Daily Telegraph columnist posted a series of photos of Keneally at the pre-poll station at Epping and claimed she was “pushy” and “annoying”, quoting one woman who said Keneally “was pretty much in the doorway”.

“ALP dirty tricks: Kristina Keneally getting a dressing down from the AEC for continually breaking the rules at Epping Pre-Poll booth,” Devine said. “She kept stepping over yellow line to hand out how to vote cards despite AEC official making it clear no one is to cross the line. #Bennelong.”

But a story in the Australian, based on the same photographs apparently snapped by the Liberal party, was immediately taken down following a complaint from the Keneally campaign.

Weekly Beast spoke to Keneally’s campaign media manager, Korena Flanagan, who said a quick check with the Australian Electoral Commission confirmed Keneally was not reprimanded. The official was simply talking about arrangements for the election and how they were going to manage the crowds. The Australian’s report headlined “Kristina Keneally crosses line In Bennelong battle” was quickly taken down. Devine’s tweet remains.

Ad board adds life

The Advertising Standards Board seems to be taking a tougher approach to advertisers in recent months. First they overturned their original decision not to ban an ad for lamb which offended vegetarian Hindus. Now they have banned an ad for Coke which suggested Coca-Cola is a substitute for a meal. The ad starts with the sound of a tummy rumbling. A male asks “Was that your stomach?”, to which a female replies, “Yep. Let’s grab a sandwich.” This is then followed by a voiceover “That feeling when your stomach tells you it’s lunch time.” The girl takes a drink and says, “That’s better.” The commercial finishes with a voiceover of “Coca-Cola. Taste the feeling.”

Viewers complaints included “A country with a huge sugar intake problem leading to diabetes and obesity … and you allow this rubbish!!” and “Growing obesity epidemic, no mention of calorie control, healthy eating, balanced diet”. But the advertiser of the sugary drink defended the commercial, arguing that it “in no way encourages over-consumption of any of our products, nor replacing our products with a healthy and balanced diet”. The board of the ASB agreed with complainants and ruled that the ad breached two sections of the food code. “Overall the Board considered that the advertisement did suggest that the consumption of coke would be a suitable substitute for lunch and this did undermine the promotion of a healthy balanced diet.”